Last Friday I got to get up in the morning with a smile on, dressed nicely, put on some makeup, did my hair, and gave a Zoom lecture.
After years of experience in giving lectures on various areas of art to large audiences, I, too, have had the experience of giving a lecture facing a screen, while more than a hundred people sat behind the screen and watched me.
It’s a strange feeling, but the truth is, I enjoyed the experience and felt as if each of the viewers was there with me in the gallery.
And in these times of the coronavirus in our current reality, which is not the greatest, every visitor to the gallery in any way is a blessing.
Corona, corona… All day long, we have conversations with those around us about the meaning of the coronavirus in our lives.
What is the impact of the coronavirus on the art world?
We can divide the answer to a number of areas:
- The artists/creators
- How the art is displayed – museums, fairs, galleries.
- Auctions/art collectors
- The financial situation
Will coronavirus be reflected in art?
Art is an integral part of our lives, people have always had a need for art, and they always will.
Art documents our history. We learn through it about past cultures and times of crisis for humanity.
This can be seen in wars documented through art, in the many examples such as:
Leonardo da Vinci – a sketch of isolation in hospital, and how he viewed the solution to plague.
Keith Herring – who contracted AIDS in the 1980s and displayed many clues to his illness in his works.
Pablo Picasso – his work “Guernica,” which documents the 1937 battle of the Spanish Civil War.
And there are endless examples of great artists to reflect world issues through their art. Coronavirus will be no different in that manner.
How did coronavirus affect the display and perches of art?
Galleries and fairs hadn’t changed for centuries, until the internet arrived. The great change that has taken place in recent years and that has significantly intensified recently, is that the whole art world has gone online.
Exposure to both the gallery and the studio is global. Art is more accessible to the audience, and the artists themselves have come to the forefront.
Virtual tours of museums, participation in forums, gallery discussions… it is all available to everyone.
Artists need to take art outside, in order to get energy and keep creating.
If once the term was EXPOSITION, today we are talking about EX POSITION, which aims to bring out to a new position; the current presentation of the work.
Frieze London 2019 Art Fair, Venice Biennale 2017, A taste of the Past
A great deal of work and effort was invested in this social event that included costumes, makeup, consultants, contacts, makeup artists, books, critics, journalists, curators, artists; the ideal place to make connections.
In the end, sales were made quietly behind closed doors.
The cancellation of the opening of the exhibitions is very painful for all the presenters, who put a lot of thought into the visibility of the event, and what is more, the interaction would have led to a lot of deals between the artists, visitors, consultants, curators, museum directors and more.
However today the art world has freshened up with new terms, such as:
IRL: In Real Life – compared to the internet/virtual experience
OVR: Online Viewing Rooms – in our context, these are live filmed tours of art exhibition spaces.
Is it all just digital now?
Not necessarily. One of the platforms that has really taken off is street art and graffiti.
On walls, plywood, wood.
In major cities around the world, in order to prevent the shops from being looted, they put plywood/wood on the display windows, which served as an excellent substrate for the artists’ graffiti paintings, which usually come with a political statement.
Today the museums are also featuring exhibitions of street paintings by graffiti artists.
How will 2021 affect art collectors?
When we talk about art collectors, we are talking about a serious group who love art.
They are usually financially established individuals who invest in art like in the capital market.
What the younger generation wants more, is to fall in love with the works.
This is a crowd that speaks from their gut, not from their knowledge. They don’t understand art, they are inexperienced and have no sentiments.
All it takes is 45 seconds… that’s all that the younger generation buyer needs in order to know whether he or she will fall in love with the work or not.
This is a bunch that shies away from the works of the older generation and is looking for quick and instinctive thrills.
This generation buys six times more art than the previous generation.
During the coronavirus period:
- Exposure of art lovers to museums has increased by 70% and most of the visitors are new.
- Research (August 2020) has found that there is a 255% increase in online auctions.
Did coronavirus affect my art?
To create, I concentrate on optimism, and whoever knows my works sees and feels it immediately.
Some artists create immediately, and some need to digest matters more slowly and only then does the work erupt from them.
Something different has happened to me when creating. Most of my works are characterized by intense and dominant colors, and suddenly I have found myself creating in black and white.
I hope that the effect of the coronavirus will bring good things out of the art world in 2021.
It is always important to remember that" art is good for the soul of both the creators and the viewers."
You are welcome to visit my new online store on the website in Hebrew and English.
Do not hesitate to make an offer for the work that you like.
Finally, I hope to see soon all art lovers walking around the galleries and coming to visit me at the gallery facing the sea in the port of Jaffa!